The present invention refers to an apparatus used to cook food products on both sides, while simultaneously optionally heating the inner portion of the food product, and methods of using the same. Cooking devices of various kinds are widely known to the art. Cooking devices known to the art typically fall into two categories: devices adapted to cook food from the outside-in, and devices adapted to cook food from the inside-out. Traditional outside-in devices such as ranges, broilers, griddles, grills, and panini presses use contact heat or infrared radiation to cook a food product, starting at the surface. Since the temperature of the food product is raised first and most at the outside, care must be taken to avoid burning the outer surface of the food product before the inner portion is cooked.
While outside-in methods of cooking may have some success for some types of food, they are not well-suited for foods desired to be cooked on both sides simultaneously, such as panini sandwiches. Apparatuses known to the art often result in such food products being browned or cooked on the outside, but substantially un- or undercooked on the inside.
Inside-out cooking techniques known to the an consist primarily of ovens that use microwave radiation. Microwave cooking techniques known to the art are directed to cooking food inside-out. Microwave cooking involves subjecting a food product to microwave radiation, which heats the product by irradiative excitement of water, fat, and sugar molecules within the food. Microwave cooking techniques have the advantage of cooking food products more uniformly than contact-heating apparatuses; however, they have their own substantial drawbacks. Most notably, microwave cooking techniques do not sear or crisp the exterior of the food product, and often result in a soggy or undesirable texture.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,507,939 attempts to solve these problems through a cooking apparatus that provides contact heat to the top and bottom of a food product to cook the outer surface, while directing microwaves through a lower heating element to heat the inner portion. This approach suffers a number of drawbacks. Most notably, the lower heating surface, to be microwave-transparent and capable of sustaining cooking temperatures, must be comprised of a limited range of materials with limited structural strength. As a result, the lower heating surface of apparatuses of this approach have significantly limitations on the weight of the food product that can be cooked, and also have significant limitations on the total surface area of lower heating surface that can be maintained without bowing or cracking. Further, the configuration and materials of the lower cooking surface adapted to allow microwave radiation to pass through the limit the cooking temperature capabilities of the lower heating surface, extending cooking times and limiting the ability of the apparatus to suitably crisp or sear the outer portion of the food.